Pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer. Differing from conventional therapies commonly using anti-cancer drugs and/or radiation substances to cause the apoptosis of cancer cells, the present invention particularly adopts an ethanol extract of  Taiwanofungus camphorata  (TCEE), an ethanol extract of  Ganoderma lucidum  (GLEE) or a combination of the TCEE and the GLEE as the a novel pharmaceutical composition for causing the apoptosis of lung cancer cells A594, hepatoma cells Huh 7, breast cancer cells MDA-MB 231, and colorectal cancer cells HT 29. Moreover, differing from conventionally-used anti-cancer drugs and radiation substances always causing some side-effects such as nausea, vomit, and poor appetite, this novel pharmaceutical composition can not only be used for adjunctively treating cancer, but also possesses many healthy effects, including: detoxification, enhancing immunity, and increasing appetite.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the technology field of medically-used compositions, and more particularly to an ethanol extract of Taiwanofungus camphorata (TCEE) and/or an ethanol extract of Ganoderma lucidum (GLEE) adopted as a pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Census report made by Health and Welfare Ministry of Taiwan indicates that, the number of Taiwanese suffered with cancer in 2013 has increased 2499 compared to last year. Moreover, it is worth noting that, summation of the numbers of Taiwanese suffered with colorectal cancer, lung cancer, liver cancer, and breast cancer is about 50 percent of the total cancer patients.

Currently, the primary therapeutic treatment for lung cancer is surgical removal. However, most people are not diagnosed with lung cancer until late in the disease process. So that, after removing the major lesions of lung cancer, the doctors commonly apply a radiation treatment to those locally advanced cancer. However, as healthcare personnel well knows that radiation therapy for lung cancer would cause some side-effects to the lung cancer patients, such as fatigue, lethargy, poor appetite, skin peeling, and radiation pneumonitis. Therefore, how to provide a therapeutic treatment or drug to substitute for the radiation treatment has become an important issue.

In clinical, therapeutic treatments for liver cancer are divided into surgical treatments and non-surgical treatments, wherein the surgical treatments includes: hepatic artery embolization, ethanol injection, radiofrequency electric heat treatment, and chemical treatment. Hepatic artery embolization is a general therapeutic treatment for curing small liver cancer, and can effectively cause the apoptosis of liver cancer cells with the use of anticancer drugs or radiation substances. However, a great number of clinical cases have proved that, the radiation substances would not only cause liver fibrosis become more badly but also induce other side-effects. Therefore, how to develop a therapeutic treatment or drug to substitute for the radiation substances has become an important study target.

Similarly, therapeutic ways for breast cancer includes: surgical removal, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and hormone therapy. After removing the major lesions of breast cancer, the doctors often adopt chemotherapy as an adjunctive treatment for reducing the recurrence of breast cancer. Chemotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses anticancer drugs to destroy cancer cells. However, a great number of clinical cases have proved that, the chemotherapy may induce some side-effects, for example, nausea, vomiting, poor appetite, diarrhea, hair loss, mouth ulcers, and decreased hematopoietic function. Therefore, how to develop a therapeutic treatment or drug to substitute for the chemotherapy has become an important issue.

Because colorectal cancer cells often transfer to liver, lung and bone through lymph or blood, some microscopic metastasis of colorectal cancer may exist in patient body even if the major lesions of colorectal cancer have been surgically removed. For this reason, the doctors often adopt adjunctive chemotherapy to reduce the colorectal cancer's recurrence after the surgical removal. However, some acute side-effects may be commonly induced after treating the chemotherapy to the patient, such as diarrhea and inflammation of perineum skin. Moreover, the chemotherapy for colorectal cancer may also cause other chronic side-effects to the patient, for example, obstruction, bleeding, perforation, and necrosis of small intestine.

From above descriptions, it can easily know that combination treatment of surgical removal and chemotherapy (or radiation therapy) is commonly adopted by doctors for curing the lung cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer. So that, in view of all of chemotherapies and radiation therapies would cause side-effects to cancer patients, the inventor of the present application has made great efforts to make inventive research thereon and eventually provided a pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer. Differing from conventional therapies commonly using anti-cancer drugs and/or radiation substances to cause the apoptosis of cancer cells, the present invention particularly adopts an ethanol extract of Taiwanofungus camphorata (TCEE), an ethanol extract of Ganoderma lucidum (GLEE) or a combination of the TCEE and the GLEE as the a novel pharmaceutical composition for causing the apoptosis of lung cancer cells A594, hepatoma cells Huh 7, breast cancer cells MDA-MB 231, and colorectal cancer cells HT 29. Moreover, differing from conventionally-used anti-cancer drugs and radiation substances always causing some side-effects such as nausea, vomit, and poor appetite, this novel pharmaceutical composition can not only be used for adjunctively treating cancer, but also possesses many healthy effects, including: detoxification, enhancing immunity, and increasing appetite.

In order to achieve the primary objective of the present invention, the inventor of the present invention provides a first embodiment of the pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer, which is an Taiwanofungus camphorata extract, and a specific dose of the Taiwanofungus camphorata extract in a range from 50 μg/mL to 250 μg/mL shows a therapeutic effect to a specific cancer.

In the aforesaid first embodiment of the pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer, the specific cancer is selected from the group consisting of: lung cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer.

In the aforesaid first embodiment of the pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer, the Taiwanofungus camphorata extract is able to lower the cell viability of a specific cancer cell down to 50%, and the specific cancer cell is selected from the group consisting of: lung cancer cell A549, liver cancer cell Huh 7, breast cancer cell MDA-MB 231, and colorectal cancer cell HT 29.

Moreover, for achieving the primary objective of the present invention, the inventor of the present invention provides a second embodiment of the pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer, which is a Ganoderma lucidum extract, and a specific dose of the Ganoderma lucidum extract in a range from 50 μg/mL to 250 μg/mL shows a therapeutic effect to a specific cancer.

In the aforesaid second embodiment of the pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer, the specific cancer is selected from the group consisting of: lung cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer.

In the aforesaid second embodiment of the pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer, the Ganoderma lucidum extract is able to lower the cell viability of a specific cancer cell down to 50%, and the specific cancer cell is selected from the group consisting of: lung cancer cell A549, liver cancer cell Huh 7, breast cancer cell MDA-MB 231, and colorectal cancer cell HT 29.

Furthermore, for achieving the primary objective of the present invention, the inventor of the present invention provides a third embodiment of the pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer, which is a combination extract of an Taiwanofungus camphorata extract and a Ganoderma lucidum extract; wherein a specific dose of the combination extract in a range from 50 μg/mL to 250 μg/mL shows a therapeutic effect to a specific cancer.

In the aforesaid third embodiment of the pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer, the specific cancer is selected from the group consisting of: lung cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer.

In the aforesaid third embodiment of the pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer, the Taiwanofungus camphorata extract is a water extract of Taiwanofungus camphorata or an ethanol extract of Taiwanofungus camphorata, and the Ganoderma lucidum extract is a water extract of Ganoderma lucidum or and ethanol extract of Ganoderma lucidum.

In the aforesaid third embodiment of the pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer, the Taiwanofungus camphorata extract and the Ganoderma lucidum extract have a specific combining ratio, and the specific combining ratio is in a range from 1:11 to 10:1.

In the aforesaid third embodiment of the pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer, the pharmaceutical composition is able to lower the cell viability of a specific cancer cell down to 50%, and the specific cancer cell is selected from the group consisting of: lung cancer cell A549, liver cancer cell Huh 7, breast cancer cell MDA-MB 231, and colorectal cancer cell HT 29.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention as well as a preferred mode of use and advantages thereof will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a plot curve graph of extract concentration versus cell viability;

FIG. 2 shows a plot curve graph of TCEE concentration versus cell viability;

FIG. 3 shows a plot curve graph of GLEE concentration versus cell viability;

FIG. 4 shows a plot curve graph of concentration of GLEE and TCEE combination versus cell viability.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

To more clearly describe a pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer according to the present invention, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings hereinafter.

Antrodia camphorata is one kind of expensive medicinal fungus. Because the source place of the Antrodia camphorata is Taiwan, the Antrodia camphorata is also called Taiwanofungus camphorata. The artificial cultivation ways for the Taiwanofungus camphorata can be divided into liquid fermentation, solid cultivation and the basswood cultivation. Moreover, researching and studying data have proved that the basswood cultivated Taiwanofungus camphorata possesses excellent antioxidant and anticancer ingredients.

The first embodiment of the pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer is a Taiwanofungus camphorata extract, wherein the Taiwanofungus camphorata extract is a water extract of Taiwanofungus camphorata (TCWE) or an ethanol extract of Taiwanofungus camphorata (TCEE).

In the present invention, the TCEE is taken as an exemplary embodiment for proving the therapeutic effect of the pharmaceutical composition to a specific cancer. The TCEE is fabricated by using following processing steps:

-   step (1): preparing 10-gram dried fruiting body of a Taiwanofungus     camphorata, and using ethanol of 400 mL to treating the dried     fruiting bodies with a first extracting process under 45-60° C., for     24 hours; -   step (2): filtering a first extract liquid collected from the step     (1), and then obtaining a first filtrate liquid and a     post-extraction residue of the Taiwanofungus camphorata; -   step (3): using ethanol of 400 mL to treating the post-extraction     residue with a second extracting process under 45-60° C., for 24     hours; -   step (4): filtering a second extract liquid collected from the step     (3), and then obtaining a second filtrate liquid; -   step (5): mixing the first filtrate liquid and the second filtrate     liquid for obtaining a mixture liquid, and then using a Termovap     Nitrogen Sample Concentrator to make the mixture liquid become thick     and dense; -   step (6): adding dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) of 1-2 mL into the     mixture liquid, so as to obtain a sample liquid; -   step (7): filtering the sample liquid by using a filtration film     having pore size of 0.22-0.45 μm, and then taking the sample liquid     with a suitable dose (0-250 μg/mL) for cell experiments.

As the person skilled in fungus technology field well knows, Lingzhi mushroom (or Reishi mushroom) is considered to be Ganodermataceae in a board sense. However, in the narrow sense, Lingzhi mushroom means some special species be widely cultivated. Lingzhi mushroom is found having a variety of healthcare effects, and can be divided into red mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum), yellow mushroom, white mushroom, green mushroom, black mushroom, and purple mushroom. The second embodiment of the pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer is a Ganoderma lucidum extract, wherein the Ganoderma lucidum extract is a water extract of Ganoderma lucidum (GLWE) or an ethanol extract of Ganoderma lucidum (GLEE). Moreover, in the present invention, the GLEE is taken as an exemplary embodiment for proving the therapeutic effect of the pharmaceutical composition to a specific cancer. The GLEE is fabricated by using above-mentioned processing steps.

In order to find suitable dose for medical use of the TCEE (first embodiment) and the GLEE (second embodiment), the inventors of the present invention complete a first cell experiment. In the first cell experiment, the TCEE and the GLEE are taken to treat Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVEC) for 48 hours. Please refer to FIG. 1, which shows a plot curve graph of extract concentration versus cell viability. From FIG. 1, it can easily find that, high-concentration TCEE (285.2 μg/mL) and GLEE (377.4 μg/mL) show inhibition effect to HUVEC.

Continuously, the inventors of the present invention finish a second cell experiment. In the second cell experiment, the TCEE with different doses (0-250 μg/mL) are used to treat lung cancer cell A549, liver cancer cell Huh 7, breast cancer cell MDA-MB 231, and colorectal cancer cell HT 29. Please refer to FIG. 2, which shows a plot curve graph of TCEE concentration versus cell viability. From FIG. 2, it is able to find that, the TCEE can indeed lower the cell viability of lung cancer cell A549, liver cancer cell Huh 7, breast cancer cell MDA-MB 231, and colorectal cancer cell HT 29 down to 50%. In addition, the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the TCEE for treating different cancer cells is integrated in following Table (1). Thus, the experimental data of second cell experiment have proved that the first embodiment (TCEE) of the pharmaceutical composition proposed by the present invention indeed shows a therapeutic effect to at least one kind of cancer cell.

TABLE 1 IC50 of TCEE Cancer cell (μg/mL) lung cancer cell A549 122.7 liver cancer cell Huh 7 153.4 breast cancer cell MDA-MB 231 130.6 colorectal cancer cell HT 29 107.1

Furthermore, the inventors of the present invention also finish a third cell experiment. In the third cell experiment, the GLEE with different doses (0-250 μg/mL) are used to treat lung cancer cell A549, liver cancer cell Huh 7, breast cancer cell MDA-MB 231, and colorectal cancer cell HT 29. Please refer to FIG. 3, which shows a plot curve graph of GLEE concentration versus cell viability. From FIG. 3, it can find that, the GLEE can indeed lower the cell viability of lung cancer cell A549, liver cancer cell Huh 7, breast cancer cell MDA-MB 231, and colorectal cancer cell HT 29 down to 50%. In addition, the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the GLEE for treating different cancer cells is integrated in following Table (2). Thus, the experimental data of second cell experiment have proved that the second embodiment (GLEE) of the pharmaceutical composition proposed by the present invention indeed shows a therapeutic effect to at least one kind of cancer cell.

TABLE 2 IC50 of GLEE Cancer cell (μg/mL) lung cancer cell A549 206.3 liver cancer cell Huh 7 219.1 breast cancer cell MDA-MB 231 157.9 colorectal cancer cell HT 29 166.7

Besides the TCEE (first embodiment) and the GLEE (second embodiment), the present invention further proposes a third embodiment of the said pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer. The third embodiment of the said pharmaceutical composition is a combination extract of the Taiwanofungus camphorata extract (i.e., the aforesaid TCEE) and the Ganoderma lucidum extract (i.e., the aforesaid GLEE). It is worth explaining that, the Taiwanofungus camphorata extract and the Ganoderma lucidum extract have a specific combining ratio, and the specific combining ratio is in a range from 1:11 to 10:1.

For determining whether the third embodiment of the pharmaceutical composition is able to shows therapeutic effect to cancer cells, the inventors of the present invention further finish a fourth cell experiment. Before starting the fourth cell experiment, the said combination extract is fabricated by mixing the TCEE and the GLEE by the specific combining ratio of 3.65:1. Moreover, in the second cell experiment, the combination extract with different doses (0-250 μg/mL) are used to treat lung cancer cell A549, liver cancer cell Huh 7, breast cancer cell MDA-MB 231, and colorectal cancer cell HT 29. Please refer to FIG. 4, which shows a plot curve graph of concentration of GLEE and TCEE combination versus cell viability. From FIG. 4, it is able to find that, the combination extract can indeed lower the cell viability of lung cancer cell A549, liver cancer cell Huh 7, breast cancer cell MDA-MB 231, and colorectal cancer cell HT 29 down to at least 50%. In addition, the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the combination extract for treating different cancer cells is integrated in following Table (3). Thus, the experimental data of second cell experiment have proved that the third embodiment (TCEE and GLEE combination) of the pharmaceutical composition proposed by the present invention indeed shows a therapeutic effect to at least one kind of cancer cell.

TABLE 3 IC50 of combination Cancer cell extract (μg/mL) lung cancer cell A549 111.1 liver cancer cell Huh 7 146.4 breast cancer cell MDA-MB 231 115.6 colorectal cancer cell HT 29 96.2

It is worth noting that, the bio-engineers skilled in fabricating medically-used compositions or drugs can find an experimental result from Tables (1)-(3). The experimental result is that the combination extract (third embodiment) performs better cancer cell viability inhibiting effect than the TCEE (first embodiment) under the same treating does; moreover, the TCEE (first embodiment) shows better cancer cell viability inhibiting effect than the GLEE (second embodiment) under the same treating does. In summary, the combination extract is able to lower the cell viability of lung cancer cell A549, liver cancer cell Huh 7, breast cancer cell MDA-MB 231, and colorectal cancer cell HT 29 down to 50% by lower treating dose.

Therefore, through above descriptions, the pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer provided by the present invention has been introduced completely and clearly; in summary, the present invention includes the advantages of:

(1) Differing from conventional therapies commonly using anti-cancer drugs and/or radiation substances to cause the apoptosis of cancer cells, the present invention particularly adopts an ethanol extract of Taiwanofungus camphorata (TCEE), an ethanol extract of Ganoderma lucidum (GLEE) or a combination of the TCEE and the GLEE as the a novel pharmaceutical composition for causing the apoptosis of lung cancer cells A594, hepatoma cells Huh 7, breast cancer cells MDA-MB 231, and colorectal cancer cells HT 29.

(2) Moreover, differing from conventionally-used anti-cancer drugs and radiation substances always causing some side-effects such as nausea, vomit, and poor appetite, this novel pharmaceutical composition can not only be used for adjunctively treating cancer, but also possesses many healthy effects, including: detoxification, enhancing immunity, and increasing appetite.

The above description is made on embodiments of the present invention. However, the embodiments are not intended to limit scope of the present invention, and all equivalent implementations or alterations within the spirit of the present invention still fall within the scope of the present invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer, being an Taiwanofungus camphorata extract; wherein a specific dose of the pharmaceutical composition in a range from 50 μg/mL to 250 μg/mL shows a therapeutic effect to a specific cancer.
 2. The pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer of claim 1, wherein the Taiwanofungus camphorata extract is selected from the group consisting of: water extract of Taiwanofungus camphorata and ethanol extract of Taiwanofungus camphorata.
 3. The pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer of claim 1, wherein the specific cancer is selected from the group consisting of: lung cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer.
 4. The pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer of claim 3, wherein the pharmaceutical composition is able to lower the cell viability of a specific cancer cell down to 50%, and the specific cancer cell is selected from the group consisting of: lung cancer cell A549, liver cancer cell Huh 7, breast cancer cell MDA-MB 231, and colorectal cancer cell HT
 29. 5. A pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer, being a Ganoderma lucidum extract; wherein a specific dose of the pharmaceutical composition in a range from 50 μg/mL to 250 μg/mL shows a therapeutic effect to a specific cancer.
 6. The pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer of claim 5, wherein the Ganoderma lucidum extract is selected from the group consisting of: water extract of Ganoderma lucidum and ethanol extract of Ganoderma lucidum.
 7. The pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer of claim 5, wherein the specific cancer is selected from the group consisting of: lung cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer.
 8. The pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer of claim 7, wherein the pharmaceutical composition is able to lower the cell viability of a specific cancer cell down to 50%, and the specific cancer cell is selected from the group consisting of: lung cancer cell A549, liver cancer cell Huh 7, breast cancer cell MDA-MB 231, and colorectal cancer cell HT
 29. 9. A pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer, being a combination extract of an Taiwanofungus camphorata extract and a Ganoderma lucidum extract; wherein a specific dose of the pharmaceutical composition in a range from 50 μg/mL to 250 μg/mL shows a therapeutic effect to a specific cancer.
 10. The pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer of claim 9, wherein the Taiwanofungus camphorata extract is a water extract of Taiwanofungus camphorata or an ethanol extract of Taiwanofungus camphorata, and the Ganoderma lucidum extract is a water extract of Ganoderma lucidum or and ethanol extract of Ganoderma lucidum.
 11. The pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer of claim 9, wherein the Taiwanofungus camphorata extract and the Ganoderma lucidum extract have a specific combining ratio, and the specific combining ratio is in a range from 1:11 to 10:1.
 12. The pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer of claim 9, wherein the specific cancer is selected from the group consisting of: lung cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer.
 13. The pharmaceutical composition for adjunctively treating cancer of claim 12, wherein the pharmaceutical composition is able to lower the cell viability of a specific cancer cell down to 50%, and the specific cancer cell is selected from the group consisting of: lung cancer cell A549, liver cancer cell Huh 7, breast cancer cell MDA-MB 231, and colorectal cancer cell HT
 29. 